Seventh Consecutive Year of Record Passenger Traffic Growth at OAK in 2004

Press Releases

January 27th, 2005

Air Cargo Traffic, Landed Weights Also Have Healthy Increases

Oakland, Calif., - Oakland International Airport (OAK) continued to experience record passenger traffic growth in 2004, up 4.06 percent over the previous year to 14,098,327 passengers. This marks OAK's seventh consecutive year of growth, despite continued significant financial losses for and subsequent restructuring of many U.S. airlines in 2004.

Air cargo traffic and aircraft landed weights also saw healthy increases in 2004. Air cargo traffic was up 8.53 percent over the previous year to 672,666 metric tons, while landed weights grew by 4.01 percent to 12.5 billion pounds. The number of commercial aircraft takeoffs and landings also grew to 186,550 operations, an increase of 5.17 percent.

In 2004, OAK served 7,066,037 departing passengers (enplanements) and 7,032,290 arriving passengers (deplanements). OAK continued to maintain its standing as the Bay Area's second largest airport, commanding about a 25 percent market share of the total number of Bay Area passengers served.

"Strong growth in 2004 was fueled by Oakland International's business plan of attracting low-cost carriers and the fact that the airport is located closer to where 48 percent of Bay Area residents live and work," said Steven J. Grossman, director of aviation for the Port of Oakland, which operates the airport. "The cost to operate at Oakland Internatinal Airport is lower, allowing the low-cost carriers to offer many new nonstop destinations and expand frequency to existing destinations, as well as full-service carriers to be competitive. This resulted in Oakland being the airport of choice for one out of every four Bay Area air travelers in 2004," added Grossman.

Also, Grossman said that he expects passenger traffic to continue to grow at a modest rate in 2005, to 14.5 million passengers served, another airport milestone.

In 2004 a number of carriers at OAK made significant changes that resulted in increased passenger traffic: three launched new nonstop service; one that previously operated as a charter changed to scheduled service; and many added frequency to existing destinations, whether on a seasonal basis or for a longer duration. The following is a list of nonstop service inaugurated, expanded or resumed at OAK in 2004:

- Alaska Airlines added one daily flight to Seattle in June for a new total of eight.

- Aloha Airlines resumed its seasonal summer schedule by offering one flight each to Kona and Lihue in June and added a second flight to Honolulu in July for a new total of six daily flights.

- America West Airlines began a weekly flight to Los Cabos, Mexico in December. In January, the airline added a third flight to Las Vegas, and America West Express inaugurated a daily regional jet flight to this same destination in November.

- JetBlue Airways inaugurated twice-daily service to Boston in May, and added a seventh and third flight respectively to New York-JFK and Washington-Dulles that same month.

- North American Airlines, which had been flying to the Hawaiian Islands from OAK with a national tour operator for the past three years, began scheduled service in November, with two weekly flights to Honolulu and three weekly flights to Kahului, Maui.

- Southwest Airlines inaugurated a daily flight each to Houston-Hobby and Philadelphia in October and November respectively. Southwest also expanded existing service as follows: in June, a daily flight to Las Vegas for a new total of 11; in October, three daily flights with two to San Diego and one to Phoenix; and in November, increased from three to five daily flights to Chicago-Midway.

- SunTrips resumed its seasonal summer service with weekly flights to San Jose, Costa Rica and the Azores Islands (Portugal) in June.

- United Airlines added a sixth flight to its Denver hub and a third flight to Washington-Dulles in June. United Express added a fourth daily regional jet departure to Los Angeles-LAX.

Because of the addition of a number of daily flights in 2004, commercial aircraft takeoffs and landings also grew. Air cargo volumes were up in 2004 due to a recovering Bay Area economy and corresponding increases in both exported and imported goods to and from Asia. With more passenger and cargo traffic at OAK last year, aircraft landed weights also increased.

OAK currently has over 200 flights a day on 12 domestic and international carriers to 39 nonstop destinations, including Atlanta, Boston, the Hawaiian Islands, New York, Washington, D.C., Mexico City and Mexico beach cities, and seasonal service to the Azores (Portugal), Costa Rica and Sun Valley, Idaho. OAK is the regional distribution center and is the designated Pacific gateway for FedEx. The airport is a revenue division of the Port of Oakland, an independent department of the city of Oakland.

OAK broke ground on its Terminal 2 improvement project in April 2004. This $110 million project, to be completed by fall 2006, includes construction of a new concourse with five additional boarding gates and waiting areas; a modern, centralized food, beverage and retail shopping area; expanded ticketing, security and baggage claim facilities; and new utilities. Also, the airport expects to begin improvements to the terminal roadway and curbside areas in spring 2005 to ease congestion in front of the terminals. Visit oaklandairport.com for more information.